Means for retaining sales counting tickets and the like and for locking same together in a stack or bundle



II I I March 31. 1970 J. F. GIAMPA MEANS FOR RETAINING SALES COUNTING TICKETS AND THE LIKE AND FOR LOCKING SAME TOGETHER IN A STACK OR BUNDLE Filed May 11, 1967 %{M FJ United States Patent MEANS FOR RETAINING SALES COUNTING TICKETS AND THE LIKE AND FOR LOCK- ING SAME TOGETHER IN A STACK 0R BUNDLE Joseph F. Giampa, 9551 Lawrence Court, Schiller Park, Ill. 60176 Filed May 11, 1967, Ser. No. 637,755 Int. Cl. B42f 3/04 U.S. Cl. 40271 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The invention relates to improvements in a holder for retaining sales counting tickets and the like and for locking same together in a stack or bundle. It comprises a holder having a plurality of spaced posts on which the tickets are threaded to retain them in a stack and has means for locking the stacked tickets together to form a self-contained bundle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is applicable principally to conventional sales counting tickets, although it is of broad enough scope to be used in other environments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS In connection with conventional sales counting tickets, the sales ticket, usually of a thin paper board, is attached to the merchandise in the store. A portion of the ticket has perforations which is coded information relative to the product to which it is attached. When the merchandise is sold the sales person detaches the portion of the ticket that has the coded perforations and same is retained by the store together with the other sales tickets and they are ultimately sent to be processed through an IBM or other decoding machine which decodes the information. In this way a proper inventory is kept of the type of merchandise or products sold and it gives the store immediate information as to what is being sold. The sales counting tickets might also have written or printed thereon certain additional information such as price and the like. During the course of each day these detached conventional sales counting tickets must be stored and kept together and after a certain period of time, either each day or a period of several days they are sent to the ofiice for processing through the decoding machine.

One of the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide the means whereby such sales counting tickets are supported and retained in an orderly stacked condition on a holder, and when the collection of tickets have to be sent for decoding, a locking member is applied to secure and bind the tickets to the holder so that they may be sent in a stacked bundle without requiring the use of other fastening means.

Another object of this invention is to provide a holder with a locking member therefor in which the holder has spaced posts which coincide with the enlarged spaced openings on the sales counting ticket so that the tickets may be threaded onto the posts and held in a stacked group, and in which the holder has a locking member attached thereto which does not interfere with the threading of the tickets on the posts but which is readily detached from the holder and applied to the posts to retain the collection of tickets in a stack or bundle on the holder. The holder is a selfcontained unit which has means for stacking the tickets and for locking them in stacked condition.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device molded of plastic material which comprises a holder for retaining a collection of tickets or the like and which has 3,503,695 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 means for locking the tickets to the holder, with the holder and locking means being integrally molded in a single injection of a plastic molding machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a very simple and inexpensive means for retaining sales counting tickets and the like and then locking them together for transporting or mailing to the location where the sales counting tickets may be decoded.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a base, slotted or recessed to receive a plurality of holder units, one of such holder units being shown in a position to receive the tickets, and the other 'holder unit shown with the tickets locked in the holder;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view partly in section taken on lines 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a conventional sales counting ticket which is held by the holder unit;

FIGURE 4 is a view of a modified holder;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the locking member taken on lines 55 of FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a view of a modified post.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The holder unit, generally indicated at 10 and shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, is formed of plastic and injection molded and comes out of the injection machine as a single integral unit. The said unit comprises an elongated base 12 of generally rectangular shape from which extends upwardly a pair of spaced spindles or posts 14. Molded as part of the unit is a locking member 16. The locking member is molded so that it is attached to the base at 18 and extends vertically at right angles to the base 12 and is positioned centrally of the length of the base and to the rear side 20 of the base. The front side 22 of the locking member 16 in this upright position will be substantially in the same vertical plane of the rear side 20 of the base and thus will not interfere with the threading of the tickets on the spindles 14. j

The attachment or connection at 18 is by a thin strip of plastic material between the bottom of the locking member 16 and the base 12, which is formed in the injection molding process, so that while the locking member is retained in its upright position during the threading of the tickets it may be readily detached from the base by a slight manual pressure.

The locking member 16 has a pair of spaced slots 23 which are in alinement with the spindles or posts 14 when the locking member is applied to the posts, as shown in FIGURE 1, with the tickets secured. The inner side has a projection or tit 21 which acts to hold the locking member on the posts. The inner side 24 of each of the slots 23 is curved or rounded and the radius starts from the adjacent inner end of the slot. The opposite side 25 of the slot is generally straight for a major portion of its length and then terminates in an arcuate-shaped end. The slots 23 are open so that the locking member 16 can be inserted or slipped on from the top of the posts or slipped on endwise of the rear of the posts 14. When the inner ends of the slots of the locking member engage the posts or spindles, as shown in FIGURE 1, the engagement will be a friction-tight fit. The tits 21 will prevent accidental separation of the locking member 22 with respect to the posts 14 so that the locking member is retained on the posts or spindles, thereby retaining the stack of sales counting tickets between the locking member and the base on said spindles. The tits 21 will not prevent endwise insertion of the locking member on the posts or insertion from the top of the post as there will be suflicient give in the material so that the tits can be snapped past the posts and engage the posts, as shown in FIGURE 1. Thus, the stack of tickets are held together as in a bundle and they will remain so until the locking member 16 is manually removed. A wedge-shaped member, not shown, could be affixed to the underside of the supporting member 26 so that it will be supported at an inclined angle.

A description of one of the receiving pockets 28 should sufiice as they are all alike. The supporting member 26 may be made of plastic and the receiving pocket 28 is formed by a generally rectangular-shaped recess 30. Adjacent the rear side 32 of the pocket is a laterally extending connecting recess, indicated by the numeral 34, which is positioned centrally of the length of recess 30. Extending over one end portion of the recess but spaced from the bottom of the recess is a top member 36 provided with a central elongated slot 38 which has an entrance opening. The recess 30 in the supporting member 26 is of the same general dimensions as the base 12 of the holder unit and the base 12 of the holder unit may be slid into the receiving pocket 28 by inserting the lower end of the base under the top member 36 and Sliding it inwardly under the top member 36. One of the spindles or posts 14 will enter the slot 38 and the base 12 will occupy the recess 30. The holder unit will thus be retained in the supporting member 26 and the spindles or posts 14 will extend upwardly, as shown in the uppermost corner of FIGURE 1. The holder unit in this position is adapted to receive the conventional sales counting tickets.

The conventional sales counting ticket, designated by the numeral 40, best shown in FIGURE 3, is provided with three enlarged spaced openings, all indicated by the numeral 42. Two of such openings are at the top and one opening is along the rear in alinement with one of the top openings. The conventional sales counting ticket has small coding perforations, indicated by the numeral 44, which contain the information to be decoded when the ticket is processed through a decoding machine. The ticket 40 may have other information written or printed thereon. The sales counting ticket 40 shown is that portion of a larger ticket attached to the product sold. The detached portion 40 is retained by the store while the other portion remains attached to the product which goes to the purchaser.

The sales counting ticket 40 is positioned or threaded on the spindles or posts 14 so that the two side openings 42 of the ticket engage the spindles or posts. This does not interfere With the vertically extending locking member 16 which still remains attached to the base of the unit. After a stack or bundle of sales counting tickets 40 is positioned on the unit the upright locking member 16 is broken oif from the base 12 by tilting same rearwardly along the connecting line 18 and the locking member is secured to the posts 14, as previously described. The connecting recess 34 is positioned below the upright locking member 16 and this permits the locking member to be tilted rearwardly to detach or break it away from the base 12. The holder unit 10 is then removed from the supporting member 26 by slightly tilting the uppermost end of the base 12 of the holder and then sliding it outwardly of the receiving pocket 28. If the posts 14 extend appreciably beyond the top of the stack of tickets, as shown in the right side of FIGURE 1, then the upper ends of the posts above the locking member 16 may be broken off merely by twisting same. The bundle or stack of tickets in the holder unit 10 may then be transported, shipped or otherwise sent to the location where it is necessary to decode same.

The modification shown in FIGURES 4 and 6 is substantially like that previously described, except that the posts or spindles are modified from that previously described. The base 12 has a pair of spaced spindles or posts 14a of a greater height than the posts 14 previously described. The posts 14a have a reduced portion 14b.

Below the reduced portion 14b the post has a shoulder 14c. In threading the tickets 40 on the posts 14a, the tickets have a tendency to flutter up, i.e., move upwardly on the posts away from each other so that not until the tickets are manually compressed will they be reduced to a minimum bundle space. With the shoulders the tickets 40 may be placed or threaded on the posts and the shoulders 140 will prevent the tickets from moving upwardly of the shoulder, thus, the tickets will not become disengaged or fly off the posts. When a sufficient number of tickets have been placed on the posts up to the shoulders 14c, the locking member 50, shown in FIG- URES 4 and 5, or the locking member 22 previously described, is applied to the posts to lock the tickets together as a bundle or stack. The locking member will be positioned below the shoulders 140 so that the upper portions of the posts above the reduced portions 1412 are broken off. The bottom of the posts 14a have a reduced portion 14d adjacent the base 12' which permits the posts to be sheared from the base when it is desired to remove the tickets for decoding purposes.

The posts, either 14 or 14a, may be further modified as shown in FIGURE 6, in which the post 64 has a tapering upper end 65 and a shoulder 66 with a weakened portion 67 below the shoulder. This serves to permit the openings 42 of the ticket to be readily threaded onto the posts and the shoulder 66 serves the same purpose as shoulder 140. The break-off of the post takes place at the weakened portion 67. The shoulder 140 or 6.6 will not prevent the ticket 40 from being threaded on the posts. The modified locking member 50 would also be formed integrally with the rest of the unit and would be supported in upright position with respect to the base, identical to the locking member 16.

The locking member 50 has a slot 52, similar to slot 23, previously described, adjacent one end. Adjacent the opposite end there is a plurality of spaced segments .54 between spaced slots 56 and a central opening 58 inwardly of the spaced segments. The segments 54 are recessed as at 60 below the top plane so that the thickness of the segments is less than that of the balance of the locking member. This modified locking member may be used with either the holder unit 10 or the holder unit shown in FIGURE 4. It is positioned on one of the posts with the opening 58 engaging the post and then swung around so that the slot 52 engages the other post, as shown in FIGURE 4 to complete the locking. The inner ends 62 of the segments 54 are of arcuate shape and engage the post toprovide a friction-tight engagement with the post or spindle. In this arrangement the locking member cannot become accidentally detached from the spindles or posts even if the slot 52 of the locking member is disengaged from the post. The locking members of either type shown may be manually removed or pried away from the posts or spindles and this will permit the tickets 40 to be removed from the stack of tickets.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to sales counting tickets, it is not intended to be so limited in its application but may be used in other environments and with other types of records which are similarly stacked and retained in a stacked condition.

What is claimed is:

1. A holder for a plurality of tickets or the like provided with an opening, said holder comprising, a base and a post of plastic material which is engaged by the opening in the ticket to support the tickets in a stacked arrangement, a locking member of plastic material secured to the base by a weakened portion to permit the locking member to be torn from the base, said locking member being olfset rearwardly from the post and extending upwardly of the base to permit threading of the tickets or the like on said post without interference from said locking member when said locking member is integral w th and attached to said base, said locking member when detached from said base having means cooperating with the post to lock said locking member to said post and retain the stack of tickets between the base and the locking member, a supporting member for supporting said holder, said supporting member having a receiving pocket for removably receiving the base of said holder to retain said holder in position while the tickets are being threaded on the post.

2. A holder defined in claim 1 in which the holder comprises a base with a plurality of spaced posts to receive a ticket or the like with correspondingly spaced openings.

3. A holder defined in claim 2 in which the posts have weakened portions between the base and the top of the post to permit the post to be broken off at the weakened portion and in which the posts below the weakened portions have a shoulder to prevent the tickets threaded thereon from being accidentally displaced.

4. A holder defined in claim 1 in which the post has a shoulder at the upper end thereof to limit the upward movement of the locking member thereon.

5. A holder defined in claim 1 in which the supporting member simultaneously supports a plurality of holders.

6. A holder defined in claim 1 in which the post has a shoulder at the upper end thereof to limit the upward movement of the threaded tickets thereon.

7. A holder defined in claim 1 in which the bottom References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 579,423 3/1897 Cleaveland 12941 643,045 2/1900 Denis.

668,616 2/1901 Aberle.

699,290 5/1902 Daniel 129-4 2,493,052 1/1950 Yale 1294 3,087,498 4/1963 Vogel 12923 3,322,128 5/1967 Monahan et a1. 129-23 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,426,520 12/1965 France.

641,623 2/ 1937 Germany.

12,706 1903 Great Britain.

227,662 1/1915 Great Britain.

950,768 2/ 1964 Great Britain.

108,770 10/ 1943 Sweden.

Primary Examiner 

